E-Paper
Bengal post-poll violence: CBI meets affected families, files 7 more cases
The Calcutta high court had on August 19 ordered a court-monitored CBI probe into the incidents of post-poll violence
Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday recorded the complaints of several families in five districts of West Bengal while carrying out probe into post-poll violence and registered seven more cases, said officials aware of the development. With this, the agency has registered 28 cases so far.
On Sunday, the CBI officers visited South 24 Parganas, East Burdwan, Howrah and Birbhum districts in south Bengal, and Cooch Behar in north Bengal.
The Calcutta high court had on August 19 ordered a court-monitored CBI probe into the allegations of murder and crime against women – rape and attempt to rape – that were reported after the assembly poll results were announced on May 2.
In Cooch Behar, the probe agency recorded the statement of Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker Shahinur Rehman’s family. Rehman was kidnapped and murdered, allegedly by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters, on May 5 and his body was found in a corn field.
In South 24 Parganas, a CBI team headed by joint director Anurag Singh visited the home of BJP worker Raju Samanta who was allegedly lynched at Ramnagar on May 29.
The CBI team met the family of Nirmal Mondal who was killed on May 3. Mondal, a driver by profession, was lynched inside his home, said an officer who did not want to be named. Mondal was a TMC worker but joined the BJP before the March-April polls. His wife left the house after the killing.
In Birbhum, the CBI spoke to the family of Manoj Jaiswal, a construction material trader who was killed in the Nalhati area on May 14. He joined the BJP a month before the polls. “Jaiswal was murdered by TMC workers,” said Dhruba Saha, the BJP’s Birbhum unit president.
Neither the TMC nor the state government have so far made any statement on the CBI probe.
In Howrah district, CBI officers recorded the statement of Debalina Ghosh,wife of BJP worker, Suvadip Ghosh, whose left eye was permanently damaged in an assault on May 2. “I told the CBI that TMC workers attacked me when they could not find my husband, Suvadip Ghosh, inside the house. I hope justice will be delivered,” said Ghosh .
The CBI team also visited Rajiv Palli in Howrah’s Domjor , where several houses were ransacked.
In East Burdwan, the officers spoke to Anil Khetrapal, the husband of CPI(M) worker Kakali Khetrapal who was hacked to death on May 3 at Jamalpur. “TMC workers attacked me and my wife because our son Ashish had joined the BJP,” said Khetrapal.
The central agency which began the probe on Monday made its first arrest in connection with the post-poll violence on Saturday. Bijoy Ghosh and Ashima Ghosh were arrested from Chapra in Nadia district in connection with the murder of a BJP worker Dharma Mondol on May 14, the officials confirmed.. The accused were produced in court on Sunday and remanded in police custody.
Each of the four CBI teams - which comprise deputy inspector generals and superintendents from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka and other states – is being headed by a joint director. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is providing security to the visiting teams.
On June 18, the Calcutta high court asked the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to probe the incidents of post-poll violence. After studying the NHRC’s final report filed on July 13, the high court last week ordered separate probes by the CBI and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police into the alleged violence.
The NHRC recommended a CBI probe and said the court cases should be heard outside Bengal. The state government told the court that the NHRC report was biased and prepared with a political motive.
